An Unlikely Hero

Chapter Eight

Alex

I thought maybe once the food arrived it would be awkward and we would be eating in silence, but nothing could be further from the truth. Brandon talked non stop and I learned so much about him. I must admit the more I learned the more I liked him. He was hard working, smart, and funny, not to mention extremely good looking and charming. I learned more about his parents. His mother, Joanne, used to be a school teacher, but retired a few years ago. I got the feeling she didn't need to work since his father's housing company was so successful. She loved children though, and she volunteered at the Children's Wish foundation and several other organizations. He told me about a young lady his mother helped years ago, by personally sending her and her mother on a trip to Disneyland. The two had been abused for years by the father and when they met Joanne they were actually homeless. The mother, Stacey, was now a receptionist at Brandon's company, and the daughter, Lana was going to university. He spoke fondly of Lana, and for a moment I was jealous but was soon assured he loved her in a brotherly way. My admiration for his mother grew immensely and I was wondering when I was going to be given a second chance to meet her and not act like a wounded kitten. I wanted to delve some personal information about myself, but I didn't really know how. I was never very good at small talk, and I certainly wasn't used to talking about myself. Once the food was severely picked over and we were beyond full, I opened up two more beer. I handed him one and took a few deep breaths, knowing it was now or never. I was genuinely happy for the first time in my life, and I was about to mess it all up. It couldn't be helped, because I was messed up and there was no escaping that.

"So...." he trailed off and took a sip of beer.

"My turn hey?" I asked hoping he would secretly say nah don't worry about it.

"I don't want to force you to tell me anything or do anything you don't want to do, I'm just here for you when you're ready."

"I'm ready, No interruptions" I scolded playfully. I took one more deep breath and a big sip of beer, and began the story that changed everything.

"My parents died in a car accident when I was five. I don't remember them very well, I wish I did. After that I moved to several different foster homes until I was fifteen. The last one I stayed at the longest, I got there when I was ten and lasted there five years. My foster parents, The Klaassen's weren't great, but they weren't awful. They weren't abusive or mean, but they weren't affectionate either. I lived with three other kids. Melissa who was quite a bit younger than me, Kellan who was the same age, and Jenny who was one year older than me, and my very best friend" I smiled remembering her and Brandon smiled back at me.

My smile soon faded "The Klaassen's had one son of their own, Corey, and he was five years older than me" My heart started to race and I knew I couldn't look at Brandon or I wouldn't be able to continue so I closed my eyes and started to remember all the things I try to forget.

"I was ten and Jenny was eleven. We were friends instantly which was rare because usually foster kids trusted no one. She had lived with the Klaassen's for two years already. It wasn't long before Jenny told me about Corey and that he was creepy and was always pinching her or grabbing her, making rude comments, he even walked in on her in the shower and wouldn't leave for several minutes. He terrified her, he told her if she ever told anyone he would make sure she would be thrown out on the streets, and no one cared if a street kid disappeared. She swore me to secrecy, and I kept her secrets. Although he was rude and made us uncomfortable it never escalated until after I had lived there for about a year." I started to shake and Brandon took both my hands and clasped them with his own. It helped a bit.

"Jenny had her own room, but I shared a room with Melissa and Kellan, but there were lots of nights Jenny would come get me and we would sleep in her room. One night she opened my door and woke me up. Even in the dark I knew something was wrong. She was sobbing, but trying to be quiet. I got up and followed her into her room. With the light on I could see that something was very wrong. She had a black eye, bruises all over her arms and legs, especially her upper thighs, and her lip was bleeding. I asked her what was wrong, but she couldn't get out words, so I just hugged her and let her cry, I held her all night while she tossed and turned from excruciating nightmares. The next day she still wouldn't tell me what had happened, and I had an idea but I didn't want to push her. One week later she came into my room again and lead me back to her own, and this time she was in way worse shape and she could barely walk. I begged her to tell me and she did. Corey had been coming into her room at night and attacking her, raping her, and she said the more she fought the more he liked it. When she said she was going to report him he beat her even more promising something way worse if she did. She was terrified but we didn't tell anyone. There were weeks at a time where Corey would leave her alone, and I would get my Jenny back. One night I was sleeping in Jenny's room and got up to go to the bathroom, Corey stopped me on my way back and pulled me into his room. He told me he knew Jenny had squealed and told me that they were lovers and I made the mistake of saying that yes she told me he raped her. He decided me knowing was a problem and that I had two choices, he could kill Jenny or I could sleep with him. I was eleven. I loved Jenny, so I agreed. I let him do disgusting things to me."